Apparatus for operating doors



y s. s ROBY 2,283,577

I APPARATUS FOR OPERATING DOORS Filed March 9, 1939 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 SHELDON J fPoB Y May 19, 1942.

APPARATUS FOR OPERATING DOORS Filed March 9, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I f F/ 34 f l V 556 30 6 l A 4 44 I j SHELDQNJROBX s. s. ROBY 2,283,577 4 Patented May 19, 1942 are erric Sheldon s. Roby, Meri'den, Conn, assignor to The Stanley Works, New Britain, Conn, a cor- {aeration of Connecticut Application March 9, 1939, Serial No. 260,720

2 Claims. (Cl. 26834) The present invention relates to door opening and closing apparatus of the type automatically but unconsciously controlled by a person approaching the door, and more particularly to an improved apparatus of the above-indicated'type for controlling the swinging of a double action doorto either side of the doorway.

The aim of the invention is to provide an improved simplified apparatus including separately operated means initially adapted to operate independently as one is actuated to swing a door in a given direction and to thereafter cooperate to maintain the door swinging in the same direction should the other be operated before the cycle of initial operation is completed.

A still further aim is to provide improved door opening and closing apparatus of the above-indicated type having various features of novelty and advantage and which is particularly characterized by its extreme simplicity in construction, economy of manufacture, ease of installation, and reliability of operation.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing an installation embodying the invention herein;

Fig. 2 is a plan view partly in section of the door opening and closing apparatus, with the control apparatus more or less diagrammatically shown;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the door opening and closing apparatus;

7 Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 44 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic top view illustrating the operation as the door is swung open in one direction.

Referring to the drawings, the invention is The apparatus for swinging the door A comprises a double action operator completely enclosed within a casing D adapted to be readily positioned and secured in the door frame B. The operator is responsive to a pair of floor treads E and F positioned-to either side of the doorway free end of piston rod of motor 28 is pivotally and set in suitable recesses in the floor, whereby they may be covered to hide them from view. The various operator controls may be placed in a suitable convenient control box G recessed in the wall adjacent the doorway so as to be readily accessible should adjustment thereof be necessary.

More particularly, the door A i provided with a bottom double acting floor hinge l3 and a top plate [2 secured to the upper edge thereof and carrying a pivot [3, which pivot extends through and is suitably journalled in th bottom wall It ofthe casing D. Spaced laterally from the pivot I3 and towards the swinging edge of the door and preferably integral with the pivot plate I2 is an operating bracket 15 comprising a vertical arm l6 which extends into the casing D through a semi-circular slot l8 in the bottom wall it thereof. The upper end of arm I6 is offset laterally at 20 and supports on its outer end a vertically arranged pivot pin receiving socket 22 adapted to receive a suitable pivot pin 24 for pivotally connecting the door to the door operating means.

In accordance with the present invention, the door operating means comprises a pair of fluid motors 26 and 28 arranged in horizontal planes within casing D. The fluid motor 26 comprises a cylinder 3!! closed at one end by a cap 3! having an outwardly extending lug 32 provided with a centrally arranged opening for pivotally mounting the cylinder on the upper end of a pivot pin 34. The pivot pin 34 is fixed to the bottom wall of th casing and located a predetermined distance to one side of the center line thereof and of the door A when in closed position. Disposed within the cylinder is a piston 36 mounted on the inner end of a piston rod 38, the outer end of the piston rod being pivotally connected to the upper end of the pivot pin 24.

The cap 3| is also provided with a suitable opening connecting through a conduit 46 and the various controls hereinafter described to a,

suitable source of fluid supply adapted, when admitted to the cylinder, to exert a pressure on piston 36 and swing the door to open position in a direction away from the fluid motor 26.

The fluid motor 28 is of like construction to fluid motor 25, but is mounted in a lower horizontal'plane to allow free swinging movement of each. Th fluid motor 28 has its cap end pivotally connected to a pivot pin 42 fixed to the base wall of the casing and spaced a like distance from the center line of the casing .and door as pin 34 but to the opposite side thereof. The

connected to the lower end of pin 24, and thus when the motor is actuated it tends to swing the door in a direction away from the motor and opposite to the direction of swing of motor 26.

With this arrangement of fluid motors, when the door is in closed position the center lines from pin 24 to the pivot 34 and 42 and the center line between the fixed pivots define an isosceles triangle, with the movabl pivot pin 24 at the apex and the center lines of the motors arranged at equal angles to either side of the center line of the door. The angle between the center line of the door and the center line of the motor need only be large enough to give a turning moment to the pivot pin 24 and the door A in a direction away from the cylinder to which pressure is applied.

As the door moves, both fluid motors will simultaneously be pivoted about their fixed pivots, whereupon the angle which the unenergized fluid motor makes with the center line of the door is gradually reduced until the fixed pivot thereof, movable pivot 24, and the pivot [3 of the door are in a straight line, and if pressure is applied to the unenergized fluid motor after moving through the predetermined angle, it will cooperate with the energized fluid motor and augment the turning moment first produced and continue to open the door in the direction in which it was initially started; Thus, for example, as seen in Fig. 5, if pressure is initially applied to the fluid motor 28, once the door has moved through an angle to a position where the door pivot l3, movable pivot 24, and fixed pivot 34 of the fluid motor 26 are on or slightly beyond the line :L', y, the application of pressure to the fluid motor 26 will cause it to cooperate with motor 28 and continue the cycle of operation of the door in the same direction.

With this arrangement, if a person approaches the door and steps on the floor tread E, the door will start to swing open away from the direction of approach, and, as the person continues to pass through the door, upon stepping on the floor tread F, the second fluid motor will then be energized but will cooperate with the first fluid motor and continue the door swinging in the same direction. Likewise, if another person should approach the door from the opposite direction and step on the floor tread F following the initial swinging of the door by the person first approaching it and stepping on it, the door will continue its cycle of operation in its initial direction of movement.

In order to close the door after it has moved to a predetermined open position, there may be arranged within the casing a spring 44 having one end connected to a lug 46 secured to and extending laterally from the socket 22 and its other end secured to the end wall 48 of the casing D. Thus as the door swings to open position, the spring will be placed under tension, opposing the operation of the fluid motor and tending to swing the door to closed position.

Although various means could be utilized-for controlling the supply of fluid to the cylinders, in the embodiment illustrated the conduit 48 leading from the fluid motor 26 connects through a control valve 58 to a fluid supply line 54 leading from a source of fluid supply, such as an air compressor or reservoir (not shown) or to an exhaust line 58. As the controls for both motors are substantially identical, those for motor 26 will be described, and the duplicate parts for motor 28 will be given a like number with the suffix a.

As shown in Fig. 4, the valve 50 is provided with a downwardly depending valve stem 56 adapted to open and close the valve and having its lower end resting on an actuating lever 60. The lever 60 has one end pivotally mounted at 62 and is connected adjacent its free end to the armature 64 of an electromagnet 66 adapted when energized to lift the lever 68 and the valve stem 56 and operate the valve 58 to allow fluid to enter the associated fluid motor 26.

The operation of the electromagnet 66 is controlled by a switch 61 actuated by the armature of a relay 68; the circuit through the relay being energized by closure of a contact 10 positioned beneath the floor tread E. The closing of switch 61 connects the electromagnet 66 to the source of electric supply, whereupon armature 64 and lever 60 will be raised to raise valve stem 56 and actuate valve 50 to allow fluid to enter the associated fluid motor. a

As it is desirable to permit the door to swing to a predetermined open position, there is associated with the free end of the valve stem actuating lever 60 (see Fig. 4) a vertically arranged latch 72 pivoted at its lower end '!4 and provided at its upper end with an upwardly facing shoulder 76. The latch is normally urged forwardly by a spring 18, whereby when the valve stem actuating lever 56 is raised, the latch shoulder 16 will be urged under the free end of lever 60 and thereby maintain the valve 50 actuated and the fluid motor 26 subject to pressure as long as the valve lever 60 is in raised position.

In order to release the latch 12, there is provided a transversely arranged releasing bar 89 mounted on the armature 82 of an electromagnet 84 and adapted to engage the latch associated with each fluid motor control valve and trip same upon energization of electromagnet 84. The electromagnet 84 is energized by cooperating switch means carried by the door and door frame, whereby when the door opens to a predetermined position the electromagnet is energized to draw the bar rearwardly and release latch 12 from beneath the valve operating lever 60.

As best seen in Fig. 2, the switch means comprise contact points 86 carried on the vertical arm [6 of the door operating bracket and adapted, when the door has moved to its full open positions, to engage the spaced apartcontacts 38 and close the circuit through the electromagnet 84 to release latch 12, whereupon lever 66 will drop to connect valve 50 to the exhaust 58, releasing the pressure on the fluid motors, whereupon the spring 44 will operate to move the door toits closed position.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that when a person approaches the door and steps on the tread E, contact 10 will energize the relay 68, whereupon the electromagnet 66 will raise the valve actuating lever 60 to actuate valve 58 and admit fluid to the fluid motor 26 to swing the door towards open position. Upon the raising of the lever 60, the latch 12 will engage the free end thereof and maintain it in raised position and thus assure the door continuing to move to its full open position. Upon the door reaching its full open position, the cooperating switch means 86 and 88 will energize the electromagnet 84 to cause the releasing bar to trip the latch 72 and release lever v60, whereupon the valve 50 will be actuated to connect the fluid conduit 40 to the exhaust 58 and spring 44 will close the door.

However, if, after the cycle of operation is initiated and the door has moved through a predetermined angle sufiicient to align the fixed pivot point of the unenergized fluid motor 28, the movable pivot 24 of the door, and fixed pivot 13 of the door, anyone should approach the door and step upon either tread, then the two fluid motors will cooperate'and continue to move the door in the initial direction of swing and complete the cycle of operation in that direction.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination with a double acting swinging door having a closed position, a pair of operators associated therewith, each of said operators having one end pivotally mounted on fixed swinging movement of the door in opposite directions, and, when the door is moved to a position whereat the fixing pivots are located on the same side of the door are adapted to move the door in the same direction, and continually operative means for individually actuating said operators.

2. In a double action swinging door mounted in a door opening, the combination of a pair of actuating devices, one located at each side of the door opening, a pair of operators, one located at each side of the door opening when in its closed position, said operators including a cylinder and a rod adapted to be reciprocated by the admission of air to the cylinder, said operators being moved so that they are operatively located on the same side of the door when the door'is opened a predetermined distance in either direction, a valve for controlling the admission of pressure to each of said cylinders, means responsive to said actuating devices to render said valves effective, means for rendering said valves ineffective, and means associated with the door for operating said last means upon movement of the door into a predetermined open position.

SHELDON S. ROBY. 

